The present invention relates generally to personal novelty apparatus and more particularly to a type of personal novelty apparatus commonly referred to as a spreader bar.
Personal novelty apparatus are a class of device useful in activities engaged in between consenting adults. Many types of such apparatus are well known. One particular class of such novelty apparatus is known as a spreader bar.
A spreader bar is typically utilized when a user is to be restrained such that the limbs of the user, i.e., the arms or the legs, are to be maintained in a fixed spaced apart position. Known spreader bars typically include a fixed length of a tubular rigid material. At each end of this type of spreader bar, a cuff or other device useful for grasping the limb of the user is attached. In use, each cuff is attached to a respective limb whereby the limbs are maintained in a spread apart position commensurate with the fixed length of the spreader bar. A disadvantage and limitation of known fixed length spreader bars is that several spreader bars of differing lengths are required to obtain various spread apart positions of the user or to accommodate users of different sizes.
To overcome this disadvantage and limitation, length adjustable spreader bars are also known. One known length adjustable spreader bar includes two elongated tubular members, where in the outside diameter of one member is substantially equal to the inside diameter of the other member such that the members may be coaxially disposed in a telescoping relationship. Radial bores are equidistantly disposed along the length of each of the tubular members. The members are telescoped until the spreader bar is at the desired length. A pin is inserted through each member whereat a bore in each member is axially aligned, preferably near the midsection of the assembled spreader bar. As with the fixed length spreader bar, the cuffs or other restraining devices are attached at the ends of the spreader bar. In particular, one cuff is attached to the distal end of each respective tubular member.
A disadvantage and limitation of the spreader bar constructed from telescoping members is that as the telescoping members reach full extension, the clearance required between the outside diameter of the smaller member and the inside diameter of the larger member may be sufficiently large such that a torque developed about the pin would allow each member to rotate slightly with respect to each other about the axis of the pin, thereby causing each tubular member to have its axis skewed with respect to the axis of the other tubular member. The skewed axes of the tubular members would then develop stresses at the inner ends of each tubular member whereat the inner end contacts the other spreader bar. These stresses may in turn cause failure of the spreader bar, which may possibly cause injury to the user or partner of the user.
A further disadvantage and limitation of each of the above described spreader bars is that the cuffs or other restraining devices are fixedly attached at the distal ends of the spreader bar. No provision is paid for the attachment of the cuffs at other locations or for the attachment of additional devices, which may be desirable or useful.